This is a really pertinent question anyone wishing to start a website would ask. Years ago, building a website would run into the hundreds if not thousands, but times have changed. Building a website has become easy and cheap.

There are basically 3 elements to building a website that will cost money:

1. Domain name

This is your websites address or name. The cost of the domain name varies from providers to providers. In the UK, you can get a UK domain for less than £3.00 a year. UK domains are renewable bi-annually and should cost not more than £10.00.

2. Hosting

Hosting is where you place your website. This the home of your website. You upload all files and images to the server that is maintained by a web host. A basic web hosting package will cost about £1.00 to £2.00 a month ( I would not encourage anyone to get free hosted websites as they come with loads of strings attached).

3. Web Design

This is look or physical structure of your website. You can get someone to design your website or you can  use free templates and layouts available on the internet.  Web designers costs varies greatly depoending on the amount of time and work needed to design the website. A basic simple personal website can be designed for less than £50.

You can also use free platforms like WordPress (I recommend this), Joomla or Drupal. These platforms are supported with hundreds of free plugins (add-ons) and themes. You can also purchase premium themes and plugins to enhance the functionality of your website. I have build most of my websites using free themes and plugins.

Therefore, you can build a good, professional looking website for less than £30.00 a year. Start a website now and take your business and personal profile to a new level.

Best wishes.

Gopala